The Case of a Forgotten Jacket
by HPMJ
Summary: It's Christmas and everyone is excited. Even Damon goes insane, and does something he would never admit he did. Alaric/Damon .


**Okay, i desperately wanted to write a one-shot right before i sat down with the family for the dinner and watch Home Alone and all that kind of shizzle you do at Christmas. It's such a magical time, i just had to spend some time in my own little world of The Salvatores and the such. Well, here we are. :) Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone. May each and every single one of you have a very special time with your family and friends.**

**Oh, and I don't know how Christmas looked back in the Renaissance times so... ;)**

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**The Case of a Forgotten Jacket.**

Damon Salvatore wasn't the one to get all excited for Christmas. It wasn't like that always. Back in the day, when he used to adore his little brother he loved Christmas. He would always get Stefan the best presents, because he knew what the younger chap would dream about or wish for. He thoroughly enjoyed the fact that his presents brought more joy to his brother than any other present he had gotten. Even the ones their parents gave them could not compare.

Their father would always make sure they had the biggest christmas tree and they would spend days decorating the whole house. Just before the Christmas day the house would look as if an army of reindeers and elves had attacked it and marched right through it. There were colourful lights, and ornaments. They even had an elf statue. Basically, it made a great place for a game of tag. They used to drive the maids insane by their running and shouting.

The whole house would be filled with the beautiful scent of cinammon and other various Christmas-y smells. It often made the boys hungry. They used to pretend they were on a mission and their destination was the kitchen. They had to get cookies or something as equally delicious without getting caught. If they did, they had to accept a challenge from the other brother.

Both of them made it a tradition to lock themselves in their own rooms and wrap the presents they got before trying to be sneaky and bringing them down to place them under the Christmas tree.

Once or twice, they caught each other in the act, but that was all a part of the fun.

This year, they were spending their Christmas together for the first time in.. decades, really. Of course, Elena would be joining them. Jenna was out of town with Jeremy, they've been away on vacation before Christmas which Elena did not want to join them on, but all the snow that had fallen since then blocked their way back to Mystic Falls which resulted in them having to spend their Christmas in a hotel and away from Elena.

When Jeremy called, they found out their Christmas won't be so bad after all. The air lines that cancelled the flights were covering all the costs for them and the manager of the hotel had the place decorated, and they were having the Christmas dinner in the hotel restaurant with the rest of the guests that were stuck and the employees.

That left Elena stuck home on her own and of course, Stefan, the saviour of all, decided that she would be spending Christmas with them.

It must have been just her dream. Spending Christmas Eve with two vampires, who didn't exactly love each other.

The whole town was covered in snow. There was about 15 centimeters of snow lying everywhere. Once, about two days before the Christmas day, Damon was walking out of the boarding house with the intention of visiting the Mystic Grill but as soon as he stepped out the door a massive load of snow fell down from the room and covered him from foot to the top of his head, and right there and then, he decided he was not leaving the house under any circumstances.

There was an on-going war between him and the snow.

Bonnie was spending a non-magical Christmas with her father. Supposedly, she needed some 'qualiy time' with him, get closer to him again and renew their relationship daughter-father.

Alaric was spending Christmas alone, what with being betrayed by his wife, who was dead but really became a vampire at Damon's hands so really it was Damon's fault the lad was spending this Christmas alone. No, strike that. Isobel would have found someone else to do the job for her, she was that persistant.

The vampire suspected that all Alaric would do this Christmas is drink and watch TV.

How Damon knew all of that.? Both Stefan and Elena insisted on filling him in on every single detail of information they managed to get their hands on. Why? He had no idea and no intention to find out either. He only hoped that it was the Christmas spirit and that it won't suddenly become a habbit. It would be an annoying one to have, or to have to endure, so to say.

A day before Christmas, Elena - literally - dragged him out of the house, shopping. Clearly, she had mistaken him for Bonnie, or Stefan or perhaps a gay friend she has but doesn't talk about.

He put up a fight alright. It just so happened that Elena right before Christmas was a very persuasive Elena.

Damon made a point to stay away from her next year before Christmas.

They spend 4 hours - 4 HOURS - in the shopping mall. The amount of time one girl could spend looking for presents left him amazed. It took him about 15 minutes to find a right present for both Elena and Stefan and whilst she was looking for an appropriate present for her boyfriend he wondered off, to have a look around the shop they were currently in.

As he walked along the shelf, along the stacks of books, Christmas cards, Christmas lights and toys, something caught his eye.

A book.

He walked up to the shelf and took it down. It was thick and old. It was a bloody red colour and really dusty. The title was printed on the hard cover of the book in fancy old-style writing and it read . " How to kill a vampire."

He smirked as an idea struck him with the intensity of a lightning.

He marched into the DVD section of the shop and quickly rummaged through them.

There it is! He grabbed the copy of "Van Helsing" movies, and on his way to the cash desk he grabbed red paper to wrap the presents in.

He met Elena outside the shop, and as soon as she saw his smirk, she asked. "Damon, what did you do.?"

He only shrugged. "Oh, nothing. "

The last evening before the Christmas day, he spent it wrapping the presents. Once the book "How to kill vampires" landed in his hands, he grabbed a marker, and in the same fancy writing added a few words to the sentence to make it more appropriate. "How To Kill A Vampire Who Killed Your Wife."

He smirked, Damon had read some of the contents in the book and it was one of the old ones. The one that actually had the truth written in it. People were just too foolish to recognize the truth when it was placed under their noses.

He wrapped the rest of his presents, and later on that night, when everyone was asleep, he left the house.

Even though it was horribly cold, all he was wearing was his usual every-day-set, which of course included his black leather jacket.

As he walked up Alaric Saltzman's porch - he left his car around the corner, in case the man was still awake and would notice - he listened closely for the man's movement or perhaps the sound of TV. There was nothing. Everything was still.

Perfect. It would be easier than he thought.

The living room window was open, and he made himself welcome. (He had been invited into Alaric's home before when the man drank a bit too much of alcohol on one of their encounters in the Mystic Grill.)

Once inside, he checked if Alaric was indeed asleep.

He opened Ric's bedroom door slightly, and looked in.

There lying on a bed, in nothing more than boxers was Alaric, sound asleep, peacefully like a baby. Damon grinned.

This couldn't have been easier.

He walked back down and opened the front door from the inside. He could hardly bring in the huge Christmas tree through the window.

It took him about 15 minutes, to bring everything from the car into the living room. By everything, I mean, the huge Christmas tree ( It was almost as big as the one they had in the boarding house ), the decorations, the lights, and the presents he got for him.

He took of his jacket and threw it onto the sofa. It was rather warm and he was going to spend at least the next half an hour in there.

He might have been a heartless bastard, but Christmas was that time of the year, he went insane and unDamonly soft. Even Alaric ( who did try to kill him, and wasn't exactly his best friend ) deserved a good, decent Christmas tree.

He took out all the decorations ( those were the spares he found in the boarding house, he never knew how MUCH of this they had there. ) from the boxes, and started doing up the tree, all the while, hoping that Ric would not wake up or come down to get a drink or something.

No such thing happened, and 20 minutes later, Damon took a step back from the tree and looking it up and down. Starting at the big, gold, sparkly star at the town, and finishing at the base of the tree. He could give himself a pat on the back.

He put the remaining lights up around the house, and lastly, the gifts.

He placed the presents he got for the man - the book, and the DVDs - under the Christmas tree neatly, and went to lock the door from the inside before leaving out the window.

He took a last, good look at his work, and left through the window. He shivered from the cold, but carried on walking. He was too busy dwelling in his satisfaction to remember about his jacket that was still lying on Ric's couch.

He got home at exactly 3 A.M. and wasn't very happy to be woken up only 4 hours later by Stefan.

On the Christmas day, he was assigned the role of making sure Stefan and Elena had all the ingredients and food they needed in the kitchen, and so his rounds shop-home started really early in the morning.

Everything was done at 5 P.M. The table was set, with an extra plate for an unexpected visitor (Elena insisted that this was what her family did ) and the presents were lying under the Christmas tree.

They were all dressed up, and Damon decided that just for tonight he might behave. After all, everyone went insane on Christmas.

Just as they were about to sit down and consume all that food that honestly was calling out to Damon by his first name since the morning, the doorbell rang and the older vampire had to bite his lip to stop himself from cursing.

Stefan went to open the door, and the next minute he walked back into the living room with..

Damon paled.

Ric was holding his black leather jacket in his hand, and he was ... smiling.? Of course, too shocked by the fact that HE could make such a mistake he failed to notice the bag Ric had on his back. He KNEW he had forgotten something. His eyes ran away and he decided that it was a great idea to lock them on the chicken. God, he was hungry.

"Ric said he's looking for you, Damon. Also, I'd like him to join us for dinner."

Alaric seemed to be troubled by the offer. "Oh no, no. I just came to speak to Damon and ..." He blushed. "I have presents for you."

Elena was, by then, standing beside Stefan holding his hand. "In that case, I must insist you stay."

Damon got up and walked towards the hall. Only when he found himself in the corridor, did he stop and look back at Alaric expectantly. "Well? You wanted to speak to me, no?"

Ric nodded quickly, before following Damon. Stefan and Elena went back to sit at the table.

"Thanks." Ric said awkwardly, when they stopped by the front door. Damon was leaning against the wall. "I think I'll find the book really useful,and I've always been a fan of Van Helsing." He smiled, and Damon only nodded.

He wasn't the one to do hugs and wishes and God knows what else. "Merry Christmas, Ric."

"Merry Christmas, Damon." Alaric suddenly looked up and frowned.

Damon followed his gaze, and immediately realized what made the other man frown. There was a mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, right over where they stood.

"Don't look at me like that.! I didn't do it.!" Damon defended himself, but was quickly silenced by Ric's lips on his.

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**Woah, i didn't plan this to be Ric/Damon, but... I guess the story took on a life of its own. Happy Christmas everyone. :)**


End file.
